Conventional dental operatories generally include an articulating dental chair for supporting a patient in a variety of positions to facilitate the performance of dental procedures and operations. For example, dental chairs are generally adapted to be raised and lowered relative to a floor surface, and to be moved between a first orientation/position where a seatback is upright or inclined relative to a seat base to support the patient in a seated position, and a second orientation/position where the seatback is reclined to support the patient in a generally supine position.
In some dental chairs, the seat cushion is supported by a chair frame and the back cushion is coupled to an upright support that moves relative to the chair frame along a predetermined path or track (i.e., the support does more than merely pivot with respect to the chair frame). This upright support is sometimes referred to as a “carriage.” A lower portion of the carriage is typically received between sidewalls of the chair frame. The carriage slides relative to the chair frame between the sidewalls and along the predetermined path to move the dental chair between the first and second orientations mentioned above.
Typically, once the first or second orientation/position is requested by a user, the motions associated with that orientation are performed until completion of the orientation. Often times, however, there may be an obstruction below the seatback that may interfere with the reclining seatback in the second orientation/position. The seatback is typically very heavy as it is meant to support a patient, and may cause pain or discomfort to the obstruction if the obstruction is another person. Despite the obstruction, the seatback typically continues to try to recline, causing additional pain or discomfort.
As an example, a dental hygienist may be sitting with his or her legs below the seatback, get distracted (e.g., assisting the dentist, preparing for the procedures, reviewing the charts, etc.), and not notice that the seatback is reclining until contact with the seatback. Upon contact by the seatback with the hygienist's legs, the seatback typically tries to continue to recline despite the dental hygienist's legs, often causing pain or discomfort. As such, the hygienist may be pinned down by the heavy seatback.
Thus, a need therefore exists in the art for a safer manner of reclining the seatback of the dental chair.